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(Model.)

T. A. PLATT.

LOOK, SEAL, AND LABEL HOLDER. No. 265,136. Patented Sept. 26, 1882.

6 INVENTORL ATTORNEYS.

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UNITED T STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS A. PLATT, OF BROOKIJYN,N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, WILLIAM O. PLATT, ()F ELIZABETH, N.-J., AND VILLIANI MAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LOCK, SEAL, ANDLABEL-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 265,136, dated September 26, 1882.

Application filed April 17, 1882. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS A. PLATT, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New Yorlghave invented anew and Improved Combined Lock, Seal, and Label for Bags and other Receptacles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention consists of a device for effectually securing, sealing, and labeling bags and other receptacles generally, but is more especially intended for use on mail-bags containing mail-matter, specie-bags containing specie, and other receptacles for private or valuable matter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figurelisafront elevation of a mail or other bag having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is front elevation of my new bag locking, labeling, and sealing device, the strap being removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, showing the manner of attaching the device to the material of the bag. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the buckle end of the strap; and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, showing a modified form of hinging the label-frame to the seal-cup.

A represents the bag; B, the label-frame; G, the cup for holding the sealing-wax, and D the strap for securing the bag. The sealing-cup and label-frame are hinged together, as shown, and secured to the bag A,preferably by means of the thumb-screws a a, which pass through the material of the bag from the inside of the bag and screw into the screw-threaded tops 6 6, formed in the sealing-cup, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, the washers c c and c c, of leather, rubber, or metal, being placed upon the screws so as to come upon both sides of the materialof the bag, as shown clearly in said figure.

Instead of the screws (1 a, rivets or other means may be used for attaching the cup and frame to the bag.

The cup 0 is formed with the central bar, (1, over which the strap for tying the bag passes, which bar is of a length about equal to twice the width of the strap, so that when the strap is in place in the cup the'strap will entirely close and form the bottom of the cup, as shown tral bar, d, is rounded upon its upper side, and

one-half of it is slightly out down, as shown at g, Figs. 2 and 3, to hold the strap in place and permit the same to be easily drawn through the cup, the raised portion 9 serving to bind the strap when placed the secondtimein the cup, so that it will be held firmly in the cup.

The label-frame B is formed with the solid back plate, I), and theoutside surrounding plate or rim, 1;, between which back plate and rim the card or label is placed. When the frame is hinged to the cup 0 by the pin it passing through the lugs 1', '0' formed on the upper side of the top piece, j, (shown in Fig. 3,) and the lower plate, 1, of the cup the label or card F. will be slipped into the frame from the front; but when hinged as shown in Fig. 5, by the pin passing through the lugs i t" formed in the upper rim, I), and the lower plate, I, of the cup the label or card will he slipped in the frame from the back of the frame, so that when the frameis strapped down to thebag the label cannot be removed without first undoing the strap. The means for strapping the frame down to the bag consists of the loop or staple J, secured to the back plate, 11, of the frame, through which the tying-strap is to be passed one or more times before the same is finally buckled and sealed. One end of the tying-strap D is made wide, as shown in Fig. 4, and is provided with the two buckles E E.

In some cases, instead of hinging the labelframe to the sealing-cup, the frame and cup may be riveted together, or the two may be cast integral; but the plan shown in Fig. 5 is the preferred plan.

After the label-frame and the sealing-cup have been attached to the bag the method of tying and sealing the bag is as follows: Place the strap D first in the sealing-cup, laying it over the reduced portion 9 of the central portion, d, ofthecup. Then pass thestrap around the bag (or other receptacle) and buckle it tight around the bag with the upper buckle, (the one toward the top opening of the bag,) which secures the bag. Now, to doubly secure the bag, and to secure the label-frame, pass the strap around the neck of the bag as many times as the length of the strap will permit, passing it through the loop or staple J as many times as desired, which will hold the label-t'raxnein case of breaking of the hinge and protect the label from removal. The end of the strap is then passed through the sealing-cup alongside the strap first placed and drawn tight and buckled in the lower buckle, and then, finally, the cup 0 is to be filled with sealing-wax. By this means it will be seen that the strap cannot be iemoved from the cup without breaking the seal; nor can thelabel-framebe forced without first having to draw the strap through the lower buckle, which would remove all of the sealing-wax which would cling to the strap alter leaving the sealing-cup, making it impossible to open the bag or remove the label without detection. To open the bag, the strap is first unbuckled from the lower buckle, and then is drawn through the sealing-cup or twisted and carried edgewise through the cuts f" f of the cup, thereby breaking the seal, and then the strap is taken offthe same as an ordinary strap.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Paten tl. The device for locking, sealing, andlabeling bags, made substantially as herein shown and described, consisting of the cup 0 and the frame B, the cup being slotted for the passage of a strap and the frame provided with a staple or loop, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The sealing-cup 0, formed with the slots ff for the passage of the strap, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The sealin'gcup 0, formed with the slots ff and f f, substantially as described.

4. The central bar, (I, of the cup 0, reduced in size, as shown at 0, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

THOS. A. PLATT.

Vitnesses:

J. L. MOAULIFFE, W. 'l. SANDS. 

